Michele Davis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michele A. Davis is the Global Head of Corporate Affairs at Morgan Stanley with responsibility for media relations, internal communications and philanthropy. She is also a member of the Firm's Management Committee. Between 2001 and 2009, Michele served in a number of senior communications positions in the U.S. Treasury Department,
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...
, and the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
. Among her posts in the Bush White House, Michele served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Communications. In her last government position, she served as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and
Director of Policy Planning The director of policy planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the department's internal think tank, the policy planning staff, with a rank equivalent to assistant secretary. The position has traditionally been he ...
in the
U.S. Department of Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...
for former Secretary
Hank Paulson Henry "Hank" Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American investment banker and financier who served as the 74th United States secretary of the treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson ...
. She was also a senior member of the Treasury team addressing the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. Michele was portrayed by
Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin ...
in ''
Too Big to Fail "Too big to fail" (TBTF) is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected with an economy that their failure would be disastrous to the greater e ...
''. She was later a partner at the
Brunswick Group Brunswick Group is a British public relations company headquartered in London, England. The company was founded in 1987 by Sir Alan Parker. History The company was founded in 1987 by Alan Parker. In 2018, Brunswick Chairman Sir Alan Parker's le ...
, a global corporate communications advisory firm.


Early life and education

Davis is a native of
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
. She earned a B.S. in Foreign Service at
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in 1988 and an M.A. in economics from
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
.American Action Network
, Michele Davis.


Early career

She began working as an advocate for free market economics at
Citizens for a Sound Economy Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) (1984–2004) was a conservative political group operating in the United States. It was established in 1984 by Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries. Ron Paul was appointed as the first chairman of the org ...
from 1991 to 1994. From 1997 to January 2001, Michele served as Communications Director for the
House Majority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...
Dick Armey Richard Keith Armey (; born July 7, 1940) is an American economist and politician. He was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Texas's (1985–2003) and Party Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, ...
(R-Texas), during which time she advised Congressional leadership on communications strategy for the House agenda.


Years in the U.S. Department of Treasury and Fannie Mae

Michele Davis was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Assistant Treasury Secretary for Public Affairs on February 8, 2001. She was then confirmed by a unanimous vote by the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
on August 3, 2001, and sworn in by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on August 7, 2001. In this role, Davis was "the Department's lead representative for media, business, professional trade organizations, consumer groups and the public."PR Newswire
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...
Announces Departure of Arne Christenson; Michele Davis To Serve as Acting Senior Vice President - Regulatory Policy
Davis also oversaw the Office of Public Liaison and the Office of Public Education. Davis did not stay in the Treasury Department for long, however. She soon went on to work as the Senior Vice President for Regulatory Policy at Fannie Mae in 2002, where she was "responsible for the company's public policy research activities and policy development on a wide range of issues related to mortgage financing and the capital markets" and assumed the duties of "managing the company's relationship with its regulators." Her predecessor at Fannie Mae, Arne L. Christenson, moved on to a new position as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and head of
American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
Company's Washington, DC office. In 2005, Michele was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Global Outreach.


Mitt Romney presidential campaign

On August 2, 2012, Davis was hired by the Mitt Romney presidential campaign as a corporate public relations specialist to help guide their response to questions about Romney's time in the private sector with Bain Capital.


Political views

In 2013, Davis was a signatory to an
amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...
brief submitted to the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in support of
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
during the
Hollingsworth v. Perry ''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that reinstated same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...
case.


References


External links


Interview of Davis on PBS Frontline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Michele Businesspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Living people United States Department of the Treasury officials Year of birth missing (living people) Georgetown University alumni American University alumni United States deputy national security advisors Brunswick Group people